While a 10% increase in June gambling revenues on the Las Vegas Strip fell short of some Wall Street analysts’ projections, it was a healthy month nevertheless. Slot 
winnings were up 10% ($253 million) on only 1% higher coin-in. Luck was really with the house at baccarat, where revenue vaulted 32% despite 12% less money wagered. Baccarat play remains in a 13-month swoon but results like June can keep casino moguls whistling past the graveyard. Other table games saw 9% less money dropped on the felt but Las Vegas Strip casinos eked out a 1% increase, to $159 million. For a change, the Strip heated up more than locals markets, where revenues rose 3%, to $183 million. Players beat the house, winning 9% more on 3% increase in wagers.
Most of the gain for local operators was in the nebulous “balance of Clark County” jurisdiction. Downtown was flat, as was the Boulder Strip, while North Las Vegas lost a percentage point. It certainly was a good month for Laughlin, though, with casino winnings up 10%, to $39 million. Volatile Lake Tahoe had a stable month for once, up 6.5%, while Reno was up 4.5%. Elko and Carson Valley were up 2% and down 1% respectively. It’s a pity that the Nevada Gaming Control Board doesn’t break out numbers for Wendover anymore. Just over the border from Utah, the home of Wendover Will is the most reliable barometer of the casino economy. As I used to say, when Wendover gets a cold, Nevada contracts pneumonia.
* Speaking of expectations, Wynn Resorts surpassed the Street’s, although the headline item was Steve Wynn spending “considerable time talking about doing more with less” at Wynn Palace, according to Deutsche Bank analyst Carlo Santarelli. If Wynn had any urge to throw heavy objects, he must have gotten it out of his system before the conference call because he waxed enthusiastic about fountains, water shows, carousels, Ferris wheels and 25-foot-tall Fabergé eggs … everything except table games. Wynn only got 100, considerably fewer than the 250 he was expecting and far, far fewer than were planned for when the project was incepted. This would seem to be delayed payback of Wynn’s sharp criticism of the Macao government over table-game caps and it sent Wynn Resorts stock scrambling down 5.5%. Having had the better part of a year to ponder his remarks, Wynn has evidently learned that, in Macao, you’ve gotta go with the flow, man.
(J.P. Morgan analyst Joseph Greff predicts that Wynn will move 250 additional tables out of Wynn Macao, leaving the latter with 270 tables to Wynn Palace’s 350. You might call this solution “cap and trade.” The government might allocate additional tables to Wynn Palace post-opening … but Wynn’s right not to assume anything.)
